Realistic video about sexual consent shown to high school seniors upsets some parents and school staff

Maggie Parker
High school seniors were shown an unapproved and “unsuitable” sex-ed video, and the principal isn’t pleased. (Photo: Getty)
High school seniors were shown an unapproved and “unsuitable” sex-ed video, and the principal isn’t pleased. (Photo: Getty)

A graphic video about sex and consent was shown to high school seniors at a Florida school, but the principal and some parents are upset over it because — ironically — the instructor didn’t ask permission first.

Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center (SPARCC) has been working with the Sarasota School District to teach students about healthy relationships for more than 15 years. One of their sessions took place Nov. 7 at Pine View School, and apparently it left some parents and staff confused and concerned.

An instructor showed a video about consent, produced by Planned Parenthood, to seniors at the high school. The video featured various couples, both same-sex and heterosexual, kissing and talking about sex in terms of consent. The host discussed ways to ask for consent and how to know when it’s not OK to continue.

“After observing the video in class, a teacher notified school administration of their concern about the contents of the video, and an investigation was conducted,” Sarasota County Schools said in a statement provided to Yahoo Lifestyle. According to the statement, a parent also contacted the school’s administration with concerns about the “unsuitable” video.

Sarasota County Schools clarified in the statement that until now, SPARCC has always used pre-approved materials that “conform to curriculum guidelines and School Board policy.”

When teaching consent at Sarasota County Schools, SPARCC usually uses an approved video that features stick figures and employs tea as a metaphor for sex and consent (probably like this one). In that video, teens are told to think of consent as asking if someone wants tea. But the video that was shown in class is much more realistic and straightforward.

So why the new material? “After an initial investigation, it was discovered that a SPARCC counselor took it upon herself to show this unapproved video, knowing it had not been previously vetted, and broke curriculum protocol,” the statement read. “In addition, school staff at Pine View did not follow the correct process for guest speakers by admitting this counselor in the school in advance of their appointment and showing materials that had not been approved.”

The president and CEO of SPARCC, Jessica Hays, also released a statement. “We sincerely apologize for the incident last Wednesday at Pine View,” she said. She confirmed that the staff member had not followed “established protocol” and promised that the organization has acted to ensure that this does not happen again.

Stephen Covert, principal at Pine View School, appreciates the apology and “swift review” of the events but is disappointed that this visit resulted in an “unacceptable situation” for the students. “I want to assure our school community that we will follow district guidelines and will take extra precautions in the future to ensure only pre-approved materials are used in the classroom,” he said in the statement.

However, not everyone was bothered by the video. After a parent posted it to the Sarasota and Manatee County Schools’ Facebook page, several parents defended it, writing that they thought the material was “great.” One parent wrote, “So in my opinion, while the visualization is a bit uncomfortable, so was the birthing video we had to watch in health class back in school. It is ignorant to assume high schoolers aren’t having sex, so with that in mind, i think it’s a good video. Awkward at most.”

Until a complete review is conducted, the school district has suspended SPARCC from presenting programming. The district has also reinforced guest speaker protocols with school staff to ensure that anyone presenting to students uses pre-approved material that has been reviewed and accepted by the school principal.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.